If you’re looking for something to do tonight in Anchorage, the Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to hold a public hearing and possibly vote on passing the Anchorage Bicycle Plan. This is Agenda Item 13-C (supporting material is available on the link). There is a business meeting starting at 5 p.m., and appearance requests should start about 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, at the Anchorage Assembly Chambers at the L.J. Loussac Library. This is a continuation of the discussion that took place during the March 2 meeting, and video from that meeting can be found here.
The Anchorage Daily News this week ran an excellent story by Lisa Demer detailing some of the benefits of the Anchorage Bicycle Plan, such as better trails, better plowing, better health, etc. The article also has good links to a plowing plan for bike paths and sidewalks in Boulder, Colo., as well as info about biking in Minneapolis, two of the more bike-friendly winter cities in the country. The Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage advocacy group also has a wrap-up of the article, as well as links to more information about the plan on its Web site, including a series of talking points for people who testify. If you do attend the meeting, you are encouraged to bring your bike helmet to show your support for the Anchorage Bicycle Plan, even if you don’t plan on testifying. If you can’t attend, the meeting is televised on Channel 10 in Anchorage.
Here is an e-mail Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage President Brian Litmans sent to bike plan supporters on Monday:
Hey, bike enthusiasts,
A last-minute reminder that tomorrow evening (March 23), at Loussac library, the Anchorage Assembly will continue the public hearing on the Anchorage Bike Plan. Many bicyclists came out on March 2nd, to testify about why the Bike Plan is important to them. We hope we again get large numbers of bicyclists out to the Assembly meeting to let the Mayor and the Assembly know how important this Plan is to the Anchorage bicycle community. Even if you don’t testify, it is important to come out and show the Assembly, just by our large presence, that many people support the Plan and want a more bicycle-friendly city.
Implementation of the Plan will lead to more bicyclists, which means less cars, which in turn means less congestion and better air quality. It also means that more Anchorage citizens are leading active healthy lives, which is good for themselves and for the city as a whole.
So we hope to see you at Loussac library tomorrow night. The Assembly is saying that they should get to the Bike Plan sometime after 6 p.m. For those on tight schedules, this go-around, BCA will attempt to blog live from the Assembly through our website and our Facebook page. We will try to let everyone know when in the evening the Bike Plan will be heard. So you can follow along from home and come on down when we know when the Assembly will get to the Plan.
You can find a link to our Facebook page on our website
http://www.bicycleanchorage.org/Also, for those that missed it, the ADN ran a great story on the Bike Plan yesterday.
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/20/1192613/two-wheeled-travelers-pumped-for.html
And you can find talking points, as well as copies of the Bike Plan here:
http://bicycleanchorage.org/wordpress/?page_id=798
Looking forward to seeing lots of bicyclists tomorrow night ~ Brian
Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage
http://www.bicycleanchorage.org/
info@bicycleanchorage.org
Anchorage Bicycle Plan-Public Hearing Draft 08-09
Alaska Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance 
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